Hood - British Radars (2016) - FLAC [ art rock, electronic , lo-fi , shoegaze ]

"One day back some time in 1994 my brother informed me that we must be doing pretty well because Jesus wanted to put out a 7" by us. The Jesus in question turned out not to be the son of God but Jesus Llorente a lawyer record label guru based in Spain.... and his name was pronounced he-sus…not Jeesus. We set to work and decided to 'lift' 'British Radars' off the then current 'Cabled Linear Traction' album, giving it an edit and hoping forlornly that it might make us big in Spain or something.

There was something in our make up of that era that we thought every 7" would be our last and we had to stuff them full with as much music as possible so five further tracks were completed. But, like several proposed records of that era, it didn't come out. The strange thing is….no-one can remember why. It might have been because Acuarela got into some kind of financial difficulties, it might have simply got forgotten but in those days before a click on the internet could bring you news good or bad we'd have to wait for a letter to arrive from Madrid to find out what was happening…and it never did.

Eventually the tracks were distributed out to other releases .'Delusions of Worthlessness' was re-recorded for 'Silent '88', 'Fears Grow' tacked onto the 'Structured Disasters' compilation but the rest were cast aside. Strangely, several years later I recall Jesus getting back in touch with us again by letter with a view to putting it out but again it didn't happen. Finally in the early 2000's Jesus arranged several shows for us in Spain and we were finally real life pals full of admiration for his drinking, ability to stay up late and knack of being able to disappear without trace when necessary.

So almost 18 years later, Jesus asked if he could finally release the 7" as part of Acuarela's 20th anniversary celebrations. Still this didn't go to plan as no-one could find the original DAT until 2 years later after turning various houses upside down, Jesus located the only known version in existence and relied upon the postal system to get it to Yorkshire. It was then sent to a nice man in Plymouth who transferred it to WAV, before mastering lord of Denmark Antony Ryan gave it a spruce up and we were away.

We're glad that the record is finally coming out. They say that good things come to those who wait, but many times in the music industry, mediocre and previously released things usually come to those who wait. But whether good or not, this is a little piece of our past which shows what we were up to at the time. Like a dusty old letter that's been found in a box, its ingredients are of its time and occasionally cringeworthy but it is what it is and age has only preserved it.

Now if we could only find the files to the still missing '17 steps to a new more selfless you' 7 inch……anyone?"

Richard Adams, 2015


-British Radars - alternate version of 'Cabled Linear Traction' track
-Experiments In Silence - appeared on 'Structured Disasters'
-Flood History - appeared on 'Singles Compiled' Bonus disc as 'Create!'
-Delusions Of Worthlessness - different version from 'Silent 88' album
-Walking Mindless - exclusive
-Fears Grow - appeared on 'Structured Disasters'